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When you click a PDF link on a web page, it can open either within the web browser or directly in Acrobat or Reader. Each browser has its own settings to control how PDFs open from a web page. Acrobat XI and Reader XI do not include a preference setting to open web-based PDFs. To change the display behavior, follow the instructions below for your browser, or see the browser documentation on how to control plug-ins or add-ons.

Internet Explorer 8 and 9

  1. Open Internet Explorer, and choose Tools > Manage Add-ons.

  2. Under Add-on Types, select Toolbars And Extensions.

  3. In the Show menu, select All Add-ons.



    Select All Add-ons from the Show menu in the Manage Add-ons dialog box.

  4. In the list of add-ons, select Adobe PDF Reader.

    Note:

    If you do not see the Adobe PDF Reader add-on, try the other options on the menu. For example, on some systems, the add-on appears when you select Run Without Permission.

  5. Click the Enable or Disable button (it toggles depending on the status of the selected add-on):

    Enable sets the Adobe PDF Reader add-on to open PDFs in the browser.

    Disable turns off the add-on so it does not open PDFs in the browser.



    Select Adobe PDF Reader, and click the Enable/Disable button.

    For more information, see the Internet Explorer help topic Using the Internet Explorer 8 Add-on Manager or How to manage add-ons in Internet Explorer 9.

Google Chrome

  1. Open Chrome, and go to:

    chrome://plugins

  2. Locate the Adobe PDF plug-in, and do one of the following:

    • To have the Adobe PDF plug-in open PDFs in the browser, click Enable.
    • To use the Chrome PDF Viewer instead of the Adobe PDF viewer, click Disable for the Adobe PDF viewer. The Chrome PDF Viewer becomes enabled.
    • To have Chrome download PDFs instead of displaying them in the browser, shift-click Disable for the currently enabled viewer. This leaves both viewer plug-ins disabled so the PDFs won't display in the browser.

     

     



    For more information, see the Google Chrome help topic Plug-ins.

Mozilla Firefox

  1. Choose Tools > Add-ons.

  2. In the Add-ons Manager window, click the Plugins tab, then select the Acrobat or Reader plugin.

  3. Click the Enable or Disable button (it toggles depending on the status of the selected add-on):

    Enable sets plugin to open PDFs in the browser.

    Disable turns off the plugin so it does not open PDFs in the browser.



    Select the Acrobat or Reader plugin in the Add-ons Manager.

    For more information, see the Mozilla Firefox help topic Using a PDF Reader Plug-in.

Apple Safari

Make Acrobat or Reader the default viewer for PDFs

  1. In the Finder, select a PDF, and choose File > Get Info.

  2. Click the arrow next to Open With to expose the product menu.

  3. Choose either Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader from the application menu.


    Get Info dialog box
    Choose Acrobat or Reader from the application menu.

  4. Click the Change All button.


    Get Info dialog box with Change All selected
    Select Change All in the Open With panel.

  5. When asked if you want to change all similar documents, click Continue.

Disable AdobePDFViewer plug-in

You must have root user privileges to change the Safari plug-ins. To display PDFs using the Safari PDF viewer, you must disable the Adobe PDF Viewer.

  1. Quit Safari.

  2. Log in as the root user. The root user privileges aren't enabled by default because the root user can change system files. For more information and instructions, see one of the following Apple documents: Enabling and using the "root" user in Mac OS X or OS X Mountain Lion: Enable and disable the root user.

  3. Choose Go > Go To Folder.



  4. Type /Library in the Go To The Folder field, and click Go.



  5. Create a new folder in the Library folder, and name it Internet Plug-ins Disabled.



  6. Open the Internet Plug-ins folder, and move both the AdobePDFViewer.plugin and the AdobePDFViewerNPAPI.plugin into the new Internet Plug-ins Disabled folder.



    Note:

    If both AdobePDFViewer plug-ins are still in the Internet Plug-ins folder, drag them now to the trash. You may be asked for your name and password.

    For more information, see the Apple Safari help topic If you need to remove a plug-in.

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